Prepaid Mobile broadband lets you use your laptop, tablet or smartphone anywhere there is mobile data coverage. Most providers give you a choice of using a either USB stick modem that works with single device, usually a laptop or a mobile hotspot (image) which lets multiple (typically up to five) WiFi equiped devices (phones, tablets or PCs) share a single connection.

Not surprisingly most of the best values use the Sprint, T-Mobile and Cricket networks which also have the smallest coverage footprints. Be sure to check out the coverage maps to be verify that you will have coverage where you need it.

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Hi,Has anyone used the T-Mobile 4G Mobile HotSpot "$129.99 HSPA+ 4G" (as mentioned above) with the "Web Day Pass" at $1.49 a day? I want to know if thay will work together before I buy the HotSpot.Thanks,Dj

Virgin Mobile's prepaid broadband USB adapter seems to have a good plan with a 10 day plan available for $10. Great for trips or short vacations when you want to use your laptop. I am not sure how great the speed is, as I am still waiting for the device to arrive. Wal-Mart sells fill-up cards to add more days/data for cheap. There is a $40 plan for 30 days that has faster speeds, then ramps down after so much usage.

That is correct the $1.49 Web Day Pass was discontinued and replaced by $2 2G and $3 3G Day plans.

Those are all phone plans not mobile broadband ones. As far as I know, none of them with with T-Mobile branded mobile broadband USB modems or mobile Hotspots although they may work with some generic unlocked mobile broadband devices

1. Tethering is not allowed on the GoPhonePlan, so I think the AT&T Mobile Broadband Plan für 50$/1GB would be fine for us. How can I buy this plan? I don´t have a U.S. credit card. Are there top-up-vouchers beeing sold?

2. Do you think I need another Mifi Router to use 3G/HSDPA or will i just be fine with 1900 Mhz?

3. How do this CDMA-Mifis work? Are they locked to one provider or can i just buy one on ebay and use it?

You can get a SIM for the Mobile Broadband Plan and pay for the service at any AT&T store. I believe the stores will accept most non-US credit cards but if not you can use cash. You can top up the plan at an AT&T store or online using a prepaid credit card that can be purchased at most chain grocery or drug stores and many gas stations and mini-marts.

There's plenty of 1900 mHz AT&T coverage in California and in Reno and Las Vegas NV and Phoenix and Tucson AZ. Most of eastern Nevada is 850 only and also 3G only so you would get no service at all there. A portion of south central Arizona is 850 only but there is Edge coverage which you could use. See AT&T 850 vs. 1900 MHz Coverage Maps (dated but probably generally valid), AT&T Coverage Map.

I am going to spend a month in Florida. I think cricket $65 plan would be the best for me. I checked the coverage and saw that both Miami and Orlando are covered, but... No matter what zip code I put on the Cricket website, I always get message "We're sorry, Cricket Broadband is not offered in your area."I tried also some Californian and Oregon zip codes - same effect.What is going on?

Boy that comparison chart looks like it could have a wealth of info on it. Too bad the last few columns are BLOCKED by the advertising crap and comments on the right side of my screen. Can’t seem to figure out how to get rid of it or at least shrink it down.

You might want to look at ting.com. They charge $6/mo per device + $60/3GB, data never expires. I don't talk much, but minutes are cheap too (2-3 cents) if you want to talk. They use the Sprint network.

Ting can be a good choice for people who fit Ting's pricing model, especially light users and families.

However, it's not true that data never expires. Ting has a tiered pricing structure where the more you use the lower the per unit price becomes. For example, the first 100 MB in a month costs $3. Use more and you are are automatically moved to the $13 500 MB tier for the current month. The other data tiers are 1GB - $25, 2GB - $42, 3GB - $60 but they are all monthly, there's no rollover.

Voice and SMS work the same way. The smallest voice bucket is $3 for 100 minutes so if you only talk 10 minutes you are paying 30¢/minute not 3¢.

Personally I think Ting's pricing model is too complicated and unfairly penalizes people who only use part of a tier but are charged for the full tier. I'd think they'd do better with true pay as you go pricing i.e; 4¢/min, 2¢/text and 2.5¢/MB

Very confusing ATT way of presenting things... See here...it would seems the eliminated the low level plans and only kept the 5g/$50 for broadbands devices: laptops/notebooks, netbooks, USB modems, and Mobile Hotspots.But have more choices for tablets. See here.http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/dataplans.html

I wonder if the difference is PostPaid Broadband vs Prepaid Broadband. If that's the case then here's the deal: There's now only one choice for laptops/notebooks, netbooks, USB modems, and Mobile Hotspots in postpaid no contract month to month: 5gb/$50 vs 3 choices for tablets in postpaid.For Prepaid for laptops/notebooks, netbooks, USB modems, and Mobile Hotspots the choices are the 3 you have in your table while the tablets prepaid get to enjoy the better choices which are the same as they get in postpaid month to month.

Funny...when you go into ATT store they do not have a way of selling you the Prepaid broadband for tablet. Some reps have even insisted to me that they do exist only for Ipad. I always have to tell to give me the SIM only and let me activate it from the tablet or online.

Clear Spot Voyager WiMax with $35/mo. unlimited is advertised at 1.5 mp/s as shown, but consistently delivers 1.75 mp/s in my area. Enough for Skype chats and most of the time for movies. Once in a while a movie pauses at times. $50/mo. unlimited delivers 5+ mb/s. Both of these speeds are in a "good" reception area, yellow modem light, vs. green light.

Have bad experience with NetZero4g.Using it rarely and stayed within free limits. Then once bought 500 Mb for $9.95. Understood this as one time purchase. Instead, they started 0charging me $34.95 per month for couple of months without me even using netzero at all. Have only myself to blame -didn't pay attention to credit card bills.

Activate Tmobile Mobile Broadband Plan in your iPad (10 Steps):1. Order Tmobile microsim, the one for phone plans. Put it in your iPad2. Buy a prepaid Mobile Broadband Refill Card3. Call Tmobile Prepaid Tech Support. Tell them you want to activate a Tmobile microsim on the Prepaid Mobile Broadband plan4. Give Tech Support your SIM number, Name, zip code5. Tmobile will do a workaround on their system, since the Mobile Broadband Plan is supposed to be activated on Tmobile broadband devices6. Get your new phone number, which you will only use for MyTmobile account setup and/or refilling your account. Give Tech Support a 4 digit security PIN and the PIN from your Tmobile Prepaid Mobile Broadband Refill Card7. Write down the Refill phone number, 877-720-5195. Remember that wen you call, there is a 2-step process to recharge. First add money, then buy the month pass. Do NOT hang up before completing step 28. If you have access to a cellphone that will work with a Tmobile microsim, set up an account on My.T-mobile.com website9. Switch the microsim to the cellphone. Record the temporary password for the account. Switch the microsim back to the iPad10. (Optional) Log into your new account, and change the password. You can use the site to refill your account now, if you want

Hi Yeswap, Thanks for all the hard work you put into your site. I visit it quite frequently. I wanted to mention that Freedom Pop has new plans for home broadband service. They have one that's free up to 1 gb (1 cent/mb overage) another for $9.99 that gives you 10 gb at up to 1.5 mbps and the highest plan is $18.99 for 10 gb but you get speeds up to 8 mbps. The overage on the paid plans are only 1/2 cent per mb. My understanding is that these are only for the home router only but pretty awesome prices nothingness.

These prices only apply to the home modem. I have the mobile modem and get 500mb free, with up to 6mbps. I am waiting to see their official plans to allow trade-in of current WiMax equipment for LTE equipment when the turn on that service later this year.

I read in Fierce Wireless that the speed with the $18.99 plan can be up to 12 mbps. Maybe they will have a speed+ option for the 8 gb plan.They also have a new option within your account for $3.49/month that lets you roll over any unused balance each month, up to 20 gb total.

TheVerge reported that last October. A lot can change. They are still in beta test. They had to spend >$500k and counting for FCC cert testing of the iPhone sleeve, which is still not done. If they burn through the equity funding they might just jack up the price of the LTE modem. I have 7 months left to return the WiMax modem, and I should know before then.

With the home price plans the modem ($89) pretty much pays for itself in a few month compared to the competition. Not a huge risk for someone who needs an internet connection right now verses waiting a year for an LTE version to come out.

I just put a Ptel Pay-go SIM into my Tmobile broadband 4G hotspot and clocked 8mbps down and 2.4 mbps up. I switched to my Fios wireless router connection, and the best I could do was 8.3 down and 3.9 up.Do all Tmobile network SIMs work in their wireless broadband hotspots?

T-Mobile blocks SIMs activated on phone plans from working in T-Mobile branded hotspots, USB modems and tablets. A T-Mobile mobile broadband plan is required. As far as I know, T-Mobile MVNO SIMs don't have any such restrictions.

Great to find your site.Can someone please tell me why you don't have simple inexpensive prepaid phone plans you can pick up at your international airports that make sense for travelers? I'm about to spend 11 days in the USA on business and really, I can't see the sort of plans that are available in New Zealand and Australia. Even 2 years ago, when I ended up in Sydney unexpectantly due to volcanic ash in the air over NZ, I was able to purchase a prepaid micro sim for my iPhone 4 with unlimited text & local calls, 1 Gb Data and for Aus$30, valid for 30 days conveniently at the airport, when & where I needed it! In NZ you can get similar for NZ19. Last year I picked up a T Mobile prepaid plan micro simm from a store, that cost US$50, for about 10 days use!Why isn't this convenient arrangement available at the airport in LAX or is it now? You have to track down a suitable store or kiosk away from the airport. I haven't been there for 11 months, so has it changed?Does anyone know?

Karma only has one plan, and it costs $4/month more than the same amount of data from FreedomPop. You can buy an option from FreedomPop to let your unused data roll over for $3.49. So Karma always costs more. I do not see any reason to add them.

Today I got this message from Tmobile CS about my prepaid mobile broadband (MBB) pass:"Dear Customer,Your broadband pass has expired and you will be charged $0.20 per MB for all data use until you buy another pass Don.t worry, you will only be charged the $0.20 per MB if you use your Mobile Broadband service without buying a weekly or monthly pass."

Interesting change. Thanks for sharing. This might be useful for occasional light usage on a tablet. I wonder how the overage will be funded? If the broadband pass has expired, there would be no funds in the account.

NetZero will be selling service on the nationwide Verizon 3G network soon. They just signed a 3-year Vz deal and 5-year Sprint deal for 4G LTE and 3G.http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/netzero-wireless-signs-mvno-pacts-verizon-sprint/2013-08-02

The Economist has a fun chart that compares the cost of prepaid mobile broadband around the world. You can also compare the cost as a % of gross national income per person. I believe they only priced the dominant players in the US, Verizon and AT&T.http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/10/daily-chart-5

Wait..so with the AT&T GoPhone mobile broadband, you can't bring your own device? What happens if I already own the Unite hotspot (bought before AT&T created this new plan) that AT&T is selling for their GoPhone mobile broadband. Can I not buy a GoPhone mobile broadband SIM card and then activate it with my Unite hotspot?

$50/5gb sure beats the $50/1gb that I paid over a month ago for service I needed over a weekend.

I'm not sure but it looks like the $50 5GB deal might be another Walmart exclusive deal like Virgin and T-Mobile have where the plan pricing only only applies to devices from Walmart. I'm will contact AT&T and see what the conditions of this deal are.

Dennis: T-mobile ZTE 4G mobile hotspot at my local Walmart now come with (what I believe is) 5GB of free data good for 3 months from date of activation. I was trying to get a photo of the Mifi box, but because of the high theft (aka shrinkage) the box had a anti-theft device that covered the box.

One correction:Overage for AT&T GoPhone Mobile Broadband is $10/100MB for $15/7 days/250 MB plan, $10/1GB for $50/mo/5GB plan.This is a great plan for a short-time occasional use, because it lets you use LTE, and tethering with iPad/iPad Mini (even for a week-long plan) and some Android devices (not all, though). Can be also used with iPhone and smart phones for data-only uses. And, it is much more economical than AT&T's Prepaid DataConnect plan ($50/1GB).

BTW, GoPhone Mobile Hotspot plan IS NOT Ealmart Exclusive.Go to http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/gophone.htmland click "Activate Mobile Hotspot" near the upper right of the page, then, select GoPhone® Mobile Hotspot and proceed.I used the AT&T Elevate IMEI number to activate my unactivated AT&T SIM which I already had purchased through eBay. After activation, I tried the activated SIM with Elevate,Unite, Original iPad Mini (Verizon version), iPad Air (T-Mobile version, though it would not matter which version), iPhone 4, Galaxy Nexus, and Nexus 7 LTE. All works. The tether option is hidden for Nexus 7 LTE and did not work with iPhone 4 (and presumably all iPhone's), though. The APN is broadband.

Nice, thanks for reporting your experiences. It sounds like you can active the GoPhone Broadband plan using any AT&T SIM and the IMEI from any AT&T Broadband device. Actually I wonder if you even need a Broadband IMEI or if you can use any IMEI?

You need to update the AT&T Mobile Broadband PREPAID to include pricing for TABLETS and GAMING devices: $14.99/month 250MB, $25.00/3 months 1GB, $30.00/month 3GB, $50/month 5GB.The prices you have posted are for COMPUTERS,NETBOOKS,AIRCARDS,AND OTHER

You would have to ask AT&T why they have two different brands of prepaid mobile broadband with wildly different pricing.

Thanks for pointing out the H2O Bolt discrepancy. It looks like H20 replaced their tiered Bolt plans with a single $50 unlimited plan quite a while ago. However, I don't know how "unlimited" it really is. H2O has a history of undisclosed throttles and caps on their phone plans. According to one Amazon review the Bolt plan is throttled to unspecified speeds after 1GB.

Many services on this list are still selling WiMax modems and Hotspots what will happen when Sprint shuts down WiMax in 2015 will everyone who buys a WiMax device today have a modem that will no longer work next year and have to buy another device in 2015

Sprint has said that WiMAX will be shut down "by the end of 2015" which sounds like it could happen at anytime. But based on Sprint's iDEN shut down which they said would happen "by June 30,2013" and actually occured at 11:50 PM, June 30, WiMax will probably be around until 12/31/15 which is 20 months away.

WiMAX based services tend to be the least expensive so they can still be cost effective even if you will have to buy a new hotspot in less than 2 years. FreedomPop is blowing out their WiMAX devices for $15-$20 so there's not much of a risk.

Note 10 was a mistake. It doesn't exist.I haven't heard anything about New Cricket having broadband. I wouldn't be surprised if they do. There's a demand for it and dealers will want to be able to offer it.The Cricket CDMA network will be shut down around the end of 2015.

Can I guy a Verizon MiFi or a Sprint Mobile Hotspot device from craigslist and then purchase a plan from the provider? Or are should I be concerned about the device having a bad esn like some stolen cell phones do? - Thanks.

Hi, red pocket is now offering 512 MB mobile broadband refills for $5. Sim cards are a dollar with the promo code "summer". Does anyone know if the mobile broadband sim card works in a smartphone and if the $5 refill lasts for 30 days?

Seems as though this service might only be good for the light user (despite their "unlimited" monthly plans. No audio or video streaming allowed? Really?

D. Red Pocket Mobile™ service plans may ONLY be used for the following purposes: (i) Person to Person Voice Calls (ii) Text and Picture Messaging and (iii) Internet browsing through the Red Pocket Mobile™ web service. Red Pocket Mobile™ service MAY NOT be used for any other purpose.

Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous mobile to mobile or mobile to landline voice calls; (ii) automated text or picture messaging to another mobile device or e-mail address; ****(iii) uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games;**** (iv) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine-to-machine connections or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing; or (v) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited. A person engaged in prohibited uses may have his/her service terminated without notice or a refund.

Good choices for occasional light hotspot usage include AT&T GoPhone ($10/month 100MB), T-Mobile ($10/month 1GB) or Straight Talk ($15/month 1GB Verizon network).You can activate and suspend the service as needed. With AT&T and T-Mobile the SIMs will expire after a period of inactivity (90 days on GoPhone, one year on T-Mobile) but you can activate a new SIM easily.

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Actually it's $15/ for 250MB good for a week (not a month) with the option to add more at $10 per 100MB (the overage rate). I've added semi-colons between the plans to make it clearer that the overage rate applies to the preceding plan.

Millenicom was forced to raise their rates after a contract renegotiation with Verizon. They are now $89.99 per month for 20 gig. Still considered by most as the best deal for anyone who needs large amounts of data.

Presently, I'm using this absolutely horrible Virgin Mobile Stick....the worst investment I've ever made. It doesn't play video, and even If I want to surf the net, a lot of times, it just takes so long to download and connect. Its insane.I've been told that I can use my phone to connect to the internet using Cricket. Anyone with experiences with this. I don't mind paying $60 a month for cricket, because anything is better than what I have now.

I use cricket wireless and I can attest that they are good. that being said cricket is owned by AT&T so you need to have good service in your area. also my phone is unlocked and bought directly from the manufacturer so there is no bloatware prohibiting me from using my phone as a hotspot. If you choose to go that route I suggest not buying the phone from cricket, instead buy one from the manufacturer. I recommend the Motorola G first generation about 200 from the Motorola store.

Millenicom will cease offering Verizon data effective November 1, 2014. Dennis, you may want to update your chart to delete the Millenicom offering. All Millenicom/Verizon accounts will be shifted to Verizon who will give transferred subscribers a choice of new plan options. Had Millenicom a few years ago, but left them for AT&T LTE postpaid service for a variety of reasons.Agree Karma Go should be added to the list. It's an interesting offer with a Sprint LTE mifi device. Looks like they are not pushing the social network data bonus thing as much though.

Hi, Red Pocket is actually 3GB at 4G, then unlimited beyond that at lower speeds for the term that you pick. For example, I just bought 30 days for $30. The first 3GB is at 4G and is pretty speedy here in Vegas. Will let you know about the 'slower' speed later.